VOA标准英语2009年-Zimbabwe's MDC Legislator Roy Bennett Faces Wea

Zimbabwe's unity¹ government's designated deputy agriculture minister Roy Bennett has been charged with possessing weaponry, banditry, and attempting to commit terrorism, in a court in Mutare in eastern Zimbabwe. Roy Bennett is also being charged with entering and leaving Zimbabwe illegally.
　
Roy Bennett (file photo)

Section 27 of Zimbabwe's criminal law, under which Bennett is charged, lumps possession of weapons to be used for banditry, sabotage² and terrorism in the same clause. The sentence for those found guilty is worded as life imprisonment³ or a shorter period.

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party says the charges against Bennett are politically motivated and the party demands his immediate⁴ release.

Roy Bennett has been locked up and assaulted in detention⁵ several times since 2000 when he was elected as a legislator for the Movement for Democratic Change in a small town in south eastern Zimbabwe.

He was dressed in casual clothes in court Tuesday, including flip⁶ flops⁷ on his feet, the same clothes he was wearing when arrested. He was cheerful and the court was packed with people.

He is also to be charged with leaving and entering Zimbabwe illegally. He fled into exile in South Africa in 2006.

At that stage no warrant for his arrest had been issued. He returned to Harare in the past two weeks via Harare International Airport

He was detained last Friday on an aircraft cleared for take off, and which was carrying other passengers to Nelspruit in eastern South Africa. Bennett had cleared immigration at the small airport west of Harare.

The state alleged⁸ that Bennett tried to leave for South Africa without going through proper immigration procedures which was denied and Bennett's passport was produced in court as well as a copy of the aircraft's manifest.

A decision on bail⁹ will be made Wednesday afternoon after the swearing in of the Zimbabwe unity government's deputy ministers which would be too late for Bennett, even if he is granted bail.

The case has attracted extraordinary attention in the small town of Mutare where the case is being heard. Bennett has many supporters. People are camped outside the police station at night. They say they are ensuring he is safe and is not kidnapped from his police cell.

Defense¹⁰ lawyers argue that none of the charges are relevant to Bennett and the state has had to recall one judge from the bench after he was accused of being an interested party.

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

3 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

6 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

7 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网

8 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

9 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。